I have to switch to decaf.
The Doctor Visit
My doctor does not believe in natural remedies for acid reflux.
On Christmas Eve I went to see an ENT to have my throat evaluated. I have been having some pain and my doctor thought it would be best to involve an Ear, Nose and Throat doctor to see what was going on. Ends up I have Acid Reflux. The doctor I saw was sort of a jerk and what I like to call a pill pusher. He doesn’t wish to cure acid reflux, instead he will just push meds on me and assume that I will need to stay on them forever. I said no way! He didn’t care for me too much; it was evident in his face, his tone and the words he used. He told me that I could either take the pills and come back in a month, or stop drinking caffeine, lose weight and stop eating late at night, and come back in three “because, really what can you do in a month if you don’t take a pill?” When I said that I would like to try the latter he told me “oh, you can’t do that. You won’t stick with it. You won’t stop the caffeine; you won’t lose weight.” Wow, really doc? Rude much? I have all but cured my son of autism. I got this sh#t wrapped up!
Natural Remedies for Acid Reflux
I left his office and headed to our favorite organic market. I had to pick up our organic, free range turkey for Christmas anyway. While I was there I spoke with the woman in the supplements isle. She helped me come up with a plan to control my acid reflux naturally.
- Stop drinking caffeine – I made the switch to decaf coffee and caffeine free teas.
- Don’t eat less than 2 hours before bed – We used to do this a lot because we often put the kids to bed and then had our own dinner later.
- Lose weight – I have decided to take this very seriously and joined Weight Watchers On-line. I have already lost 3 lbs and that is in less than a week.
- Use Digestive Bitters before each meal – I picked up some citrus flavored bitters by Urban Moonshine Organic Bitters
and have been taking them before each meal to stimulate digestive juices. - Take Digestive Enzymes with each meal – I had some great Digestive Enzymes we use for Matthew so I just started taking them too, with every meal.
- Drink Aloe Vera Gel – I use Aloe Vera Gel and hour or so after meals to help coat my esophagus and promote healing.
- Raw Apple Cider Vinegar – this may seem counter intuitive, but adding Raw Apple Cider Vinegar can get the right level of gastric pH and help close the muscle at the bottom of the esophagus.
- Probiotics – I added probiotics daily to help with gut flora.
Other items that have been used to treat acid reflux include naturally fermented foods like kefir and sauerkraut. There are also reports of supplements such as turmeric or curcumin (active ingredient in turmeric), cinnamon, and fresh garlic helping to stop acid reflux.
Results
Since making these changes I have not had issues with acid reflux. To me that is so much more important and beneficial than taking another pill daily. Those pharmaceuticals are not created to heal the body, they just mask the symptoms. I prefer to use natural remedies for acid reflux naturally. Would you try this is your could?